A honey fig sandwich cake: the delicious but airy and light sponge allows the rich ingredients a bit of space to show off. Photography: Jill Mead for the Guardian

I'm as big a fan as anyone of heavy, butter-rich cakes – fat slices of madeira, Victoria sandwiches and doorstop wedges of fondant-covered birthday cake. I've even adopted "more butter is better" as a sort of kitchen mantra. But sometimes, when something lighter is called for, I make a genoise sponge. Made with hardly any fat, several eggs and a lot of determined whisking, this is a more delicate sponge. Though not showstopping by itself, it will impress with its airy lightness and versatility. It's especially good for showcasing a particularly luxuriant filling: where a richer sponge might end up feeling stodgy, the genoise can be swirled, stacked or sandwiched without dominating or weighing down.

Basic Genoise sponge

A bit trickier than a traditional creamed cake batter, but well worth the effort.

1 Gently melt the butter in a small pan, then set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

2 Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl. This really is a crucial moment in making a genoise sponge: there's no chemical leavening (baking powder or bicarbonate of soda) in here, so the only lift will come from the air whisked in at this stage. Millions of tiny air bubbles will become suspended in the mixture as you whisk. With a little luck, these bubbles will expand rapidly in the heat of the oven and the cake will rise.At first the mixture will be heavy and gelatinous, but after a few minutes of vigorous whisking you'll begin to notice it will grow foamy and lighten in colour. After around 5 minutes it'll be a very different beast: thick, aerated and pale. It's ready when it reaches, after 7-10 minutes of determined hand whisking, something called "ribbon stage" – when the whisk leaves a ribbon-like trail of the mixture as it's lifted out, and which lingers for a couple of seconds on the surface before sinking back in.

This stage can be speeded up by very gently heating the eggs and sugar, but you will have to take care not to accidentally cook the mixture. Just suspend the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water (don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the water) and lightly whisk until the mixture is warm to the touch. Then take off the heat and whisk full throttle until you reach ribbon stage.

3 Combine the flour and salt in a separate bowl, then sift half of this mixture over the top of the whisked eggs and sugar. Fold this into the eggs using a figure of 8 stirring motion, and digging right to the bottom of the bowl to prevent clumps in the batter. Once it has almost incorporated, sift and fold in the remaining flour. Be gentle with the mixture at this stage – the aim is to retain as much of the air in the eggs as possible.

4 Drizzle in the melted butter around the edges of the bowl – this helps to stop it from just sinking straight through the light, aerated batter. Very gently stir in, working the mixture as little as possible.

5 Bake according to the instructions in one of the following recipes.

Honey fig sandwich cake

With a filling as gratuitously indulgent as this, it's for the best that the sponge itself is comparatively plain.

2 Prepare the genoise sponge batter as above, sifting the ginger and fennel in along with the flour, and adding the vanilla extract with the melted butter.

3 Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for around 25 minutes, or until the sponge is well-risen, golden brown on top and just beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin. It should feel springy to the touch.

4 Let the cake cool in its tin before unmoulding. Slice in half horizontally to give two layers.

5 Heat the honey and water for the drizzle in a small pan until combined and runny. Spoon this honey mixture over the cut sides of the sponge halves to moisten. Stir the mascarpone in a bowl until smooth. Add the honey and orange zest and combine. Cut the figs into segments.

6 Spoon the mascarpone filling over the bottom layer of sponge, arrange the fig slices on top and sandwich with the second sponge layer, placing cut-side down. Dust with icing sugar.

2 Prepare the genoise sponge batter as above, sifting the cocoa powder in along with the flour and stirring in the coffee with the melted butter.

3 Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and gently level it using the back of a spoon. Unlike some other cakes it won't melt down to a flat layer in the heat of the oven: if it enters the oven asymmetrical, it will leave it asymmetrical, too. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until springy to the touch and just beginning to shrink.

4 Let the baked sponge cool for a minute or two then turn out on to a sheet of baking parchment dusted all over with sugar. Peel the original piece of parchment off of the sponge. Now roll up the sponge with its dusted baking parchment – the parchment will stop the layers sticking to each other – to a roughly 22cm long roll. Sit with the join underneath to stop it unfurling then let cool.

5 Beat the butter and cocoa powder for the buttercream together until smooth. Add the coffee and half of the icing sugar, stirring to combine. Gradually add the remaining icing sugar. Leave it at room temperature while you wait for the sponge to cool completely.

6 After 30-45 minutes the sponge should be cool. Unroll it, spread evenly with the buttercream and roll back up, this time without the layer of baking parchment.